Rarely Pure and Never Simple

Chapter 6

A/N: Hiii and welcome to Chapter 6! Just so u know, even if this does not get many readers, i definitely won't stop uploading, and if you are one of the few who really read and liked the story so far, don't worry, I am still going to upload one chapter a day!
But now, enjoy chapter 6 :)
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Summary of this chapter:
In which rifts are mended, animal comparisons are made, Interhouse friendships are bridged, and points are given.
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"Draco!"

A sudden voice snapped the attention of all three Slytherins to the right, their heads swiveling as one, and Draco felt his eyes widen in panic at the sight of Potter standing outside the entrance to the common room, leaning against the opposite wall; Draco wondered how long the brunet had been waiting there. How early had he woken up to come down to the dungeons to wait for Draco to emerge? The other boy pushed away from the edge of the corridor and walked slowly over to the blond, glancing at Pansy and Blaise standing just behind Draco.

"Hey," Potter said, and Draco was surprised at the air of nervousness that hung over him like a storm cloud; it was so strong that Draco could nearly taste Potter's anxiety.

"Hey," he returned the greeting quietly, half-turning his head to shoot Pansy and Blaise a pointed look, one the gits chose to ignore.

"Can I, er, talk to you?" Harry rubbed the back of his neck with one hand. "Alone?"

"Oh, don't mind us," Blaise said with a cheeky grin, one that made Draco want to hit him.

"Come on, Blaise," Pansy sighed, placing one hand on Draco's shoulder in comfort and squeezing briefly before grabbing Blaise by the arm and forcibly steering the nosy prat away. Draco heard the other boy start to protest before Pansy shushed him, and Draco felt a sudden surge of affection for the girl, even if a shushing was not as good as a sharp smack. Draco would have preferred the sharp smack, really. Harry and Draco silently watched the two Slytherins disappear up the corridor, the air between them now drenched in silence and awkward tension, and Draco had no idea what to say.

"So," Potter began, cheeks pink, "can we talk then?"

"All right," Draco said cautiously, unsure what Potter wished to say or how Draco was meant to respond. Was he there to yell at Draco for his rudeness last night? Well, he hardly needed to—Draco had yelled at himself enough for the both of them. Not out loud, of course, since that would make him look deranged and Draco had already decided long ago that he was definitely not deranged. But he had certainly let himself have it in the private safety of his own mind. Yelling at oneself in the privacy of one's mind did not make a person crazy—it was only when they did the same thing aloud that the insanity had clearly already set in. And Draco's insanity was far away from setting in, if it ever even would set in, which it obviously wouldn't, because Draco had decided that it wouldn't. Right, Draco? he thought to himself, wondering in the very next second if addressing himself like that in his own mind was perhaps the beginning of insanity setting in but decided it wasn't because, well, it just wasn't.

"Can we...go somewhere private?" Potter asked hesitantly.

Nodding, Draco resigned himself to an unpleasant conversation as he gestured for Potter to lead the way.

"I, er, brought you some breakfast," Harry said, sounding awkward as he held up a small stack of buttered toast on a plate that Draco had not even noticed him holding. "I mean, if you want it." His cheeks were rosy with embarrassment, and Draco felt himself melt a little at both the sight and the thoughtful gesture. Maybe Draco wouldn't be yelled at after all.